Prepping for Baby

So Daniel and I have been hard at work getting little Chloe's bedroom and other parts of the house ready for the new addition to our family. Her room is painted, but I discovered with all the rain we have been having that her room has a leak. We've put in new windows, but the stucco still needs to be painted. Daniel has even half-started a project to upgrade the guest bathroom to something we won't hate. The backyard is a disaster-area, but we are supposed to be having an excavation company out this week to haul away 15 tons of gravel so that we might (someday) be able to have grass. It is really exciting to have a house of our own that we can make all these changes to, but it seems like a never-ending series of projects! I hope Chloe appreciates all that we are already doing for her and will continue to do for her throughout her life. Maybe it won't be immediately...and that's fine. I didn't always appreciate all my parents have done, but I definitely do now!
On top of all these not-cheap projects, we are also working diligently to pay off debt. So far my student loan is gone, and my car is almost paid off. I have never had such a nice vehicle and never really expected to have it be mine after only a year-and-a-half, but we are committed to raising our family without the burden of debt hanging around our shoulders. This may mean that Chloe won't always get every "thing" she wants, and that she will have to learn the value of money and what it means to save, give, and spend (thank you Dave Ramsey!), but I think this will help her become a self-sufficient young lady who can accomplish all the goals she sets out for. Daniel and I made some stupid mistakes with money starting out, through no one's fault but our own. We still have his truck to pay off and his student loans, but the plan is to get everything wiped out in a few years.
So to work or not to work? This has been a crazy internal debate of mine. I'm not sure we can accomplish everything we want to do without me working for now. But I do not want my daughter in a day care like the one I worked in as a teenager. There just aren't enough people to take care of the needs of the children in their care. Maybe if Daniel and I can adjust our schedules in a way that would minimize the hours she needs outside care...but still, I do believe that no one will be able to take care of my baby the way I will be able to. Maybe the answer is for me to work for the short-term and be as diligent as we have been throughout our relationship in money smarts...so that eventually I can be home with her.
In the meantime, Daniel and I had a conversation with Chloe last night about all the fun things we want to teach her. She was being pretty calm until we started talking to her. Then she started kicking and moving around like crazy - it was hilarious! She seems to know we can't wait to meet her - we were telling her all about the people who will want to hold her and play with her and love her. All her grandparents, aunts & uncles, cousins and extended family. But we did tell her that above all, no one will ever be able to love her as much as her two parents.

*****Can't wait to meet you Chloe Joyce!*****